Hockey player Zach Sullivan of the Manchester Storm shared a heartfelt post on Instagram on Wednesday, echoing what a lot of us are feeling about missing sports.
“Missing hockey slightly, thought I’d share a throwback to by far the best day of my life!”
Tagging his teammate Tyson Fawcett, Sullivan shared a photo taken on the day he came out to his teammates, becoming one of the first publicly bisexual professional hockey players.
Speaking after Sullivan’s coming out, Dallas Ehrhardt, teammate and captain of the Storm, made a statement in full support of his teammate:
“When he told the room, we couldn’t be happier for our teammate and we 100% have his back. The hockey world is a tight knit supportive community and when something as important like this happens, the whole sport gets better.”
Fans in attendance of the Pride-themed match that day also recounted that, “When he was called to do the ceremonial puck drop, the entire building cheered and got on their feet for him.”
While the day to day excitement of live sports is sorely missed, it’s these special moments that mean so much to both LGBTQ players and fans, and really bring our communities together. For Sullivan, finally coming out to his team felt like the best day of his life and hopefully, once sports can be safely resumed, more LGBTQ athletes will once again have the opportunity to share these life-defining moments with their coaches, partners and teammates.
Follow Zach Sullivan on social media by clicking here for Twitter and here for Instagram.